This thesis focuses on the relationship between job satisfaction and union membership of long day care employees in Melbourne and Sydney, and uses the exit-voice/union-voice model as an analytical framework. The data includes surveys of child-care staff and students enrolled in child-care courses, interviews with child-care staff, union officials and employer representatives, and official documentation. While child-care workers report high levels of job satisfaction, it is argued that the considerable ‘exit voice’ of the survey respondents is a demonstration of job dissatisfaction. The reported levels of satisfaction are a manifestation of satisfaction with the intrinsic features of the work (child development outcomes) and the limited employment opportunities of females generally. The exit voice is a manifestation of dissatisfaction with the extrinsic features of the job (pay and career advancement). The thesis failed to detect evidence of a strong relationship between job (dis)satisfaction and union membership, due to the ‘caring profession syndrome’, a perceived lack of union instrumentality, and problems associated with the ability of unions to recruit and organise an industry consisting of over 4,000 small workplaces. The findings show that both staff and students are highly sympathetic towards unions, that working in child-care changes attitudes about work but not unions, and that there exists a strong union voice among child-care workers despite the relative low levels of union membership. The thesis discusses the implications for union organisation so that the supply of union membership might correspond with the demands for this membership, particularly in regard to employee motivations and commitments. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The Swedish labour market has developed a system were the relationship between employers and employees is in the largest extent regulated through collective agreements. A principle of the Swedish model has long been that the government should not interfere in wage setting and that the regulation on the wage settings is provided for the organisations on the labour market, however, a system of collective agreements that are generally applicable are very common in many European countries. The significance of this system is that the collective agreement is binding on all parties on the labour market which includes, both employers and employees that are members and also non-members in a trade union. A method with doctrinal and labour law in context has been used. This essay has examined how an imposition of the collective agreements with a general effect could affect the protection of workers in the Swedish model, and what kind of consequences such imposition could contribute to. Collective agreements are very important for the Swedish model and the employer has an obligation to apply conditions of collective agreements on employees that are non-members in a trade union or members in a different union. Employers who do not apply these conditions to workers can be guilty of violation of the collective agreement. In Sweden, collective agreements have a very high coverage despite the absence of collective agreements that are generally applicable. The high coverage is important because collective agreements offers workers a safer protection with more rights and opportunities to influence their workplace. In practice, it is also established that collective agreement in a workplace should be the central, and that it should have a normative effect on workers. However, the employer can bypass a few rules, which may affect workers negatively because they do not get equal rights or an equally strong protection. In order to maintain the Swedish model, a high number of trade union memberships are necessary. On the other hand, it has been shown that the number of trade union memberships has been decreased which can contribute to a diminished position on the labour market for workers and the trade unions. An adoption of collective agreements with a general effect as a complement to the system we have today would have been a good solution to include more employees. However, it can also be considered as an invasion on the Swedish model.

The general objective of this study was to explore and investigate employee participation within an engineering support services company. Attention was therefore given to the opinions and perceptions of employees and managers regarding employee participation as well as the relationship between employee participation and employees’ union membership. To conduct this study a qualitative and quantitative research design was adopted. In order to examine employees and managers’ opinions and perceptions, semi-structured one-on-one interviews were conducted with participants. Six employee participation themes were identified as well as various sub-themes. Self-developed group administrative questionnaires were also utilised to determine the relationship between employee participation and union membership. The study found that employees and managers attach positive opinions and perceptions towards employee participation therefore leading to positive participation outcomes. In exploring the relationship between employee participation and union membership it was found that 87.1% of the employees in the company did not belong to a union. It was also found that there is a statistical significance relationship between employees’ race and their tendency to join a union (0.068). Employees also indicated that they will join a union if co-management and self-management (as forms of employee participation) is not present in their organisation; with a statistical significance of 0.016 and 0.068. Information presented in this study can be used to develop effective employee participation strategies as well as assist in implementing these strategies. / Thesis (MCom (Labour Relations Management))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

The general objective of this study was to explore and investigate employee participation within an engineering support services company. Attention was therefore given to the opinions and perceptions of employees and managers regarding employee participation as well as the relationship between employee participation and employees’ union membership. To conduct this study a qualitative and quantitative research design was adopted. In order to examine employees and managers’ opinions and perceptions, semi-structured one-on-one interviews were conducted with participants. Six employee participation themes were identified as well as various sub-themes. Self-developed group administrative questionnaires were also utilised to determine the relationship between employee participation and union membership. The study found that employees and managers attach positive opinions and perceptions towards employee participation therefore leading to positive participation outcomes. In exploring the relationship between employee participation and union membership it was found that 87.1% of the employees in the company did not belong to a union. It was also found that there is a statistical significance relationship between employees’ race and their tendency to join a union (0.068). Employees also indicated that they will join a union if co-management and self-management (as forms of employee participation) is not present in their organisation; with a statistical significance of 0.016 and 0.068. Information presented in this study can be used to develop effective employee participation strategies as well as assist in implementing these strategies. / Thesis (MCom (Labour Relations Management))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

M.A. / The aim of this dissertation is to illuminate critically the political implications of Bulgaria’s membership of the European Union (EU) from a domestic perspective. In particular, this research paper will focus on the political implications of Bulgaria’s EU membership with regard to citizenship, identity and the development of Bulgaria’s future relationship with the EU. This research paper will be explained by the theoretical tradition of the multi-level governance approach, which assumes the involvement of multiple levels of governance (supra-national, national and sub-national) in the process of European integration.

Politics today is facing a troubling trend towards the empowerment of nationalist movements. With strong historical traditions and a powerful Scottish National Party, Scotland would appear to be a prime candidate for such movements. However, this thesis argues that Scotland represents a nation with a unique civic culture. This thesis seeks to determine which elements of Scottish political and cultural history have led to its modern day civic culture, in the form of a civic nationalism, or patriotism. It asks: why is Scottish nationalism unique, and why does it matter? To answer, I have broken down the thesis into three main chapters that consider the theories of nationalism that are significant to the study of Scottish nationalism, the foundations of Scottish nationalism, and how Scottish nationalism manifests itself in civic contexts. The results reflect that Scottish civic culture deeply permeates the nation's politics. Even when given the opportunity for independence, Scotland chose to remain a part of the United Kingdom in order to maintain its interests with the European Union. And, while political cultures are subject to rapid change, the current state of Scottish culture reflects a civic manifestation. / Master of Arts

Οι εργασιακές σχέσεις αποτελούν ένα θέμα μείζονος σημασίας για τις επιχειρήσεις και μπορούν να είναι ένας από τους παράγοντες που θα επηρεάσουν την αποδοτικότητά τους. Όταν εκδηλώνονται αρνητικές καταστάσεις στον εργασιακό χώρο, λόγω απορρύθμισης των εργασιακών σχέσεων, η απόδοση των εργαζομένων δεν είναι η επιθυμητή. Οι εργασιακές σχέσεις συνδέονται σε μεγάλο βαθμό με την εργασιακή ικανοποίηση. Αν ο εργαζόμενος νιώθει ικανοποιημένος από την εργασία του, τότε είναι πιο παραγωγικός και συμβάλλει ενεργά στην ανάπτυξη της εταιρείας που εργάζεται. Η εργασιακή ικανοποίηση προέρχεται από καταστάσεις και χαρακτηριστικά όπως ο μισθός, το ωράριο εργασίας, οι σχέσεις εργαζομένων διοίκησης αλλά και εργαζομένων μεταξύ τους, η εκπαίδευση και κατάρτιση, δηλαδή πεδία τα οποία μελετώνται και από τις εργασιακές σχέσεις. Η εργασία αυτή θα προσπαθήσει να αναδείξει την άμεση σχέση που υπάρχει ανάμεσα σε εργασιακές σχέσεις και εργασιακή ικανοποίηση, μελετώντας την περίπτωση μιας εκ των μεγαλύτερων εταιρειών στην Ελλάδα και τη ΝΑ Ευρώπη, την εταιρεία ΟΤΕ Α.Ε.. Από την έρευνα αυτή προκύπτουν αρκετά σημαντικά συμπεράσματα που συνδέουν τις εργασιακές σχέσεις και την εργασιακή ικανοποίηση και ειδικά σε μια περίοδο που ως κύριο χαρακτηριστικό έχει την οικονομική κρίση. / Industrial relations are a major issue for firms and can be one of the factors that affect their profitability. When negative situations occur in the workplace due to destabilization of industrial relations, employee performance is not the desirable one. Industrial relations are highly related to job satisfaction. If the employee feels satisfied with his/her job, then s/he is more productive and actively contributes to the development of the company. Job satisfaction stems from factors such as salary, working hours, relations between employees and managers as well as relations with colleagues, education and training, that is fields that are studied under industrial relations. This paper attempts to highlight the direct link between industrial relations and job satisfaction, studying the case of one of the largest companies in Greece and SE Europe: Greek Telecoms (OTE A.E.). The findings of this research link industrial relations with job satisfaction especially at a time defined by the economic crisis.

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities. / Department of Government and Public Administration

The purpose of this research is to identify major factors that can be used to explain and predict the process of growth in union membership as represented by union victories in certification elections. The emphasis of this research is on organization and social-structural level factors. The logistic regression procedure reveals that organization level variables are most significant in explaining union victories in certification elections. Among the organization level variables, Unit Size, as defined by the NLRB, is the most significant variable in each year of the study and across all industrial classifications.

Since 1973, the European Union has been expanding its borders from its six founding members - West Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Belgium, to include all of Western Europe and parts of Scandinavia by 1995. However, with the fall of the Soviet Union in 1990, the EU made a difficult but beneficial choice of paving the road for the Eastern and Central European (ECE) to become EU members. However, there was a need for the EU to determine the goals and guidelines that would format the transition of these former communist states into productive members of the EU. This paper will analyze the evolution of these guidelines - formally outlined by the Copenhagen Criteria - that set the precedent for these states to become members. The main issue of this paper will take these criteria a few steps forward, comparing states that were given membership based on the criteria and those who have been established by the EU as at least "potential EU members" but have not been deemed as satisfying these criteria enough to become candidates or full members. Both qualitatively and quantitatively, the comparisions of the 2004 and 2007 new EU members and other states of the Western Balkans and Turkey will be conducted to determine if the political and economic guidelines established by Copenhagen are the only guidelines being met, or if areas such as cultural values and "Europeanness" are also contributing to membership levels.